Murder-for-hire Trial Is Expected To Begin

January 25, 2000

Opening statements are scheduled to begin Tuesday in Cook County Criminal Court in the murder-for-hire trial of three men charged in connection with the 1997 fatal shooting of community activist Arnold Mireles.

The selection process for three separate juries that will hear evidence in the case began Monday.

Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine, along with Assistant State's Attys. James McKay and Domenica Stephenson, will prosecute the cases against Ruben Alvarez, 19; Miguel Martinez, 21; and Roel Salinas, 64. Alvarez and Martinez, both admitted gang members, are charged with first-degree murder. Salinas, who owned problem buildings in the area, is charged with first-degree murder and solicitation for murder for hire.

Prosecutors allege Salinas paid Alvarez and Martinez $10,000 to kill Mireles. Salinas allegedly told the two that, besides having spent time in jail in 1995 for housing violations reported by Mireles, the activist had "cost him thousands of dollars" in court costs and subsequent repairs on the Southeast Side buildings he owned.